A few days after of getting the call from Mark Finnern telling me that I was named as a SAP Mentor, I calmed down, and then thought of what Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show said after winning the Teddy Award..."it all started in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, CA"
"Be open to anything and attached to nothing" - this was my motto this week as a new SAP Mentor.
What a great first week as a SAP Mentor. As a Certified Public Accountant, a certified Project Management Professional, with 5 SAP certifications, and as a 2009 ASUG Service Award winner, becoming a SAP Mentor tops all of these achievements because it comes after working 13 years with SAP. I agree with what SAP Mentor Dennis Howlett has said - it is an honor and privilege to be a SAP Mentor.
Here's my quick recap of SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG 2010:
Sunday, Day 1 started with a great BI Roadmap session by Dan Kearnan, SAP, a great afternoon ASUG Utilities conference session, and the night ending by my receiving a mentor plaque and shirt. 
Monday Day 2:
I attended new fellow SAP Mentor Ann Rosenberg's excellent session "Business Modeling Management: Framework for Business Innovation and Transformation". I will attempt to blog regarding all the things I learned during this session. I learned too that Ann has a new SAP Press book coming out - click here for details. I have pre-ordered my book already.
I attended an SAP Usability session, but I signed a form that said I couldn't talk about it.
We had more great mentor meetings, then Vijay Vijayasankar and I attempted to get into Ingo Hilgefort's "tammy.powlas3/blog/2010/05/18/is-it-the-beatles-coming-to-america-in-1964-no-it-was-sro-standing-room-only-trying-to-see-ingo-hilgeforts-session" session - we were turned away as it was more than full with crowds outside the door. I am the ASUG BI Program Chair and I was still turned away! Thanks to the false fire alarm, however, I was let back in when asked if I would moderate the session.
Tuesday Day 3:
Attended Mentor meetings where Certification was discussed. I also attended a packed house session given by Jay Roble, General Mills, on lessons learned regarding implementing BusinessObjects Data Services.
I also attended Coca Cola's Workflow Session, Union Pacific's Session on Universal Worklist - both were outstanding in terms of presentation and content. I had the honor of handling the drawing for Sue Keohan's best-selling SAP Press SAP Workflow book.
ASUG Reception: Tuesday Night
This is a picture of me and fellow ASUG Volunteer Rudy Julian. At this reception, fellow mentors Gretchen Lindquist and Jim Spath won ASUG awards:
Wednesday, Day 3
I waited 40 minutes at the convention session trying to check in my bag; technical difficulties. I was not late to Katie Beavers packed session on Advanced Analysis (separate blog coming).
Then I spent time in the ASUG booth. * Thanks to Katie Newlon for providing most of the photos.
Final Thoughts:
It was great to finally meet Mark Finnern, who has quickly answered all of my questions. I enjoyed spending more time with Sue Keohan, my fellow ASUG volunteer. She is a true Mentor to me, always providing profound and excellent guidance. She is a force of nature!
It was a pleasure to finally meet Vijay Vijayasankarin person, whose blogs I always follow and read. Same can be said for Blag. I also met and spoke with Owen Pettiford, who explained BPM/BMPN and referred me to his website.
Jon Reed - I have been reading and following you for years, starting with SAPTips and jonerp. I truly enjoyed being in on the C5 discussions; I hope there is an open panel discussion on the topic at TechED.
Marilyn Pratt - awesome to meet you in person, and thank you for always patiently supporting me in blogging and providing tips for improvement.
Ingo Hilgefort - my personal thanks for all you have done for me and ASUG. I bought your first SAP Press book before I even met you; you have been a tremendous help to ASUG since you became our SAP POC late last year. Thank you for continuing to challenge me to become a better volunteer.
Joerg Nalik - many thanks for your book, SAP Guidelines for Best-Built Applications, which I will blog about later. I read this book on the plane ride home.
A final special thanks to Jim Spath, who has always gone above and beyond in supporting me as an ASUG Volunteer and now as a SAP Mentor.
Tammy
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